Farm Family Rights group meeting
The group is campaigning for farmers to join their association and influence formulation of the new single farm payments (SFP).
They have received thousands of signatures from farmers supporting their proposal for a €500 per hectare single farm payment for the first 20 hectares of agricultural land for all active farmers, with a gradual reduction for higher acreage.
Combined with a reasonable limit on high payments, this system should leave adequate savings for special packages and a national reserve, according to the group.
Donie Shine, chairman of the group, says this redistributive system would give every active farmer a minimum basic payment.
Under the present system, where 80% of the SFP funding goes to 20% of the largest producers, Mr Shine said the number of family farms has been reducing at an alarming rate while others are hanging on in the hope of justice in the new SFP in 2014.
He says gradual convergence of payments from 2014 to 2019 is no good to small/medium-sized family farms, and the Farm Family Rights Group’s proposal should be implemented in full in 2014. He said reducing very big SFPs will not seriously reduce national production.
He said tomorrow night’s meeting will be attended by Munster MEPs.
The meeting will include advice from Don Crowley of Teagasc on coping with the fodder crisis.
